Beneath the Surface
by SuperBlueGirl12
Summary: Based on the 2016 Ghostbusters (Abby, Erin, Jillian and Patty) The Ghostbusters are doing what they do best when someone from Holtzman's past shows back up in her life and causes nothing but trouble.
1. Chapter 1

_'In culture after culture, people believe that the soul lives on after death, that rituals can change the physical world and divine the truth, and that illness and misfortune are caused and alleviated by spirits, ghosts, saints ... and gods.' - Steven Pinker_

Normal was not a word anyone would use to describe Jillian Holtzman. Weird, eccentric, mad, genius... these were the words she was used to hearing. There was always that little voice in the back of her mind telling her not to try and fit in, or make friends, or be anything other than herself because it was too hard. Science was the one thing Jillian could relate to. It was her happy place, her home. Her safety net from the world around her. Until she met Abby. They bonded over a love of the mysterious and unexplained, and attempted to break the boundaries people had put up against the world of spirits and the paranormal. Then when Erin and Patty joined them it felt as though they had a purpose. Like they were doing something that mattered. And Jillian didn't have to worry about changing who she was because these were her friends who accepted her for who she really was. There was no mask to wear and no show to put on. With her friends she was just Jillian. Crazy, brilliant, Jillian.

-x-

The phone was ringing off the hook in the fire station. Patty hurried down the stairs and looked for Kevin who, as usual, was not at his desk. Patty sighed and picked up the phone. 'Ghostbusters.' She answered. A frantic woman began shouting down the phone so loudly Patty had to move the phone away from her ear. She eventually calmed down once the situation was explained. 'Alright ma'am, we're on our way.' She said calmly and reassuringly, before putting the phone back on the hook and turning to face the stairs. She yelled; 'Hey! Ghostbusters! We have a ghost tearing shit up on East 128th Street! Let's go.' Abby was first down the stairs, closely followed by Erin.  
'Patty? Why are you answering the phone?' Erin asked.  
'Where's Kevin?' Abby wondered.  
'I have no idea.' Patty said. 'We need to put a tracker on that boy or somethin.'  
'Hotlzy come on!' Abby called. A few moments later a tiny blonde bombshell came bounding down the stairs, goggles and coat still in tact.  
'I'm here, never fear.' She sang, stripping off her coat and replacing it with her coveralls. 'I have an idea.' She grinned.  
'What might that be?' Abby asked skeptically. 'Ghost assistant.' She spread her arms wide awaiting response.  
'Ghost assistant?' Patty looked at her. 'Why would anyone want a ghost assistant?'  
'They'd do a better job than Kevin.' She said, looking towards the desk. 'Where is he anyway?'  
'We're not sure.' Erin sighed.  
'I'm not suggesting enslaving the ghosts, we would pay them of course.'  
'What would a ghost do with money?' Abby asked before she caught herself. 'No, never mind, we have a job.'  
'Ah yes, work.' Holtzman conceded. 'To be continued then.'  
'Hmmm maybe.' Erin said, walking out of the door with Abby on her tail.  
'The hate the idea don't they?' Jillian asked Patty quietly.  
'It's a stupid idea.' Patty said, putting a hand on her friends shoulder.  
'I thought as much.' She shrugged. 'Off to catch a ghost!'

-x-

In the Ecto-1 Abby was doing some last minute equipment checks. 'Did they say what type of classification this ghost was?' She asked.  
'Na, the lady was pretty panicked so I just said we'd be there as soon as possible.'  
'There's been no other reports from anyone so I think it's safe to say this is an isolated incident.' Erin said, holding on as Holtzman turned a corner doing fifty.  
'Can you calm it down Holtz, I'm going to electrocute myself back here.' Abby said.  
'My apologies Abigail.' Holtzman said, quickly following it up with; 'being electrocuted isn't so bad you know. I like it every now and then.'  
'Girl you keep getting stranger by the day.' Patty shook her head. 'Oh I forgot. The lady was calling from inside the Jameson restaurant so it might be something specific to that.'  
'Has anyone died there recently?' Erin asked.  
'Not that I know.' Abby confirmed, flipping on the new walkie talkies Holtzman built to make sure they were functioning. 'You know we could have just bought walkie talkies, right Holtzy?'  
'I know, but I don't trust them. People could be listening.'  
'What people?' Patty asked.  
'Any people.' Jillian confirmed before the car screeched to a halt. 'We're here.' She said. Erin used the back of the seat to brace herself against the stop before looking out into the completely calm street.  
'There's nothing here.' She observed.  
'Maybe it is in the restaurant.' Abby said, getting out of the car. 'Gear up.' They all followed her out of the car and put on their proton packs before entering the restaurant.

-x-

'This place is dead.' Erin said looking around the deserted restaurant. There were no staff or patrons in sight, the low buzzing of the refrigerator behind the counter was all that could be heard.  
'Hello?' Patty called. 'We're here about a ghost?' They walked further into the restaurant and noticed the half eaten plates of food and the odd jacket thrown over the back of a few chairs.  
'Looks like people left in a hurry.' Abby said. They were looking around slowly when all of a sudden... DING! Patty jumped around with her proton pack prepared, Erin almost stumbled into the seat she was walking past, and Abby just turned on her heels and looked at Holtzman.  
'I found a bell.' Jillian said. 'So I rang it.'  
'Yes, thank you Holtzy.' Abby said, walking over to her.  
'Don't do that.' Patty said, joining them. 'Look at Erin, you nearly gave her a heart attack!'  
'She 's fine. We all need a good jolt once in a while.'  
'Again, with the electrocution thing?' Patty looked down at her friend as the doors at the back of the room opened wide, and a terrified woman came bursting through. 'I'm guessing that's the lady I spoke to on the phone.' Patty said.  
'Are you the Ghostbusters?' She panted.  
'No, we dress like this for fun.' Jillian said, straight faced.  
'Yes, that's us.' Erin stepped in. 'Where is the problem?'  
'In the back. It went into the kitchen and the pantry.' She said, frantically pointing to the double doors.  
'Alright, just stay here and try to calm down for me okay?' Abby reassured her that it would all be fine. 'Come on guys.' She instructed.

-x-

They made their way through the double doors cautiously and could hear the faint sound of pots and pans rattling. There was a crash a few moments later when a ghost came around the corner. It was a man, not fully formed but they could make out the top half of his body. 'It looks class two, it shouldn't be too hard to contain.' Abby said. 'Holtzman, try to get a shot on it and then we'll see how much power it has.'  
'Sure thing boss lady.' Jillian said, firing up her pack and aiming it at the ghost. 'Come to mamma.' She whispered as she fired. A strong beam of red and yellow fixed itself around the ghost. It wasn't fully aware of what was happening but it tried to break free all the same.  
'How does it feel?' Patty asked.  
'I could probably use one more pull.' Jillian confirmed. 'Erin, would you do me the honour?'  
'No problem.' Erin said, moving around to the back of the ghost and aiming her own proton pack. She fired, shooting the same beam of light and wrapping it around the torso of the partially formed figure.  
'On three we're going to get this sucker.' Jillian said, releasing the container. 'One... two...' The both braced themselves. 'Three!' With that, they directed the energy towards the open container.  
'A little more.' Erin said to herself, walking towards the ghost as it moved closer to the canister. Within a few moments the ghost was gone, sealed up in a metal prison.  
'Wooo!' Holtzman raised her arms in victory.  
'Very nice ladies.' Patty complimented.  
'That was a baby one.' Abby said. 'I'm not sure where it could have come from?'  
'I might be able to tell you more back at the lab.' Holtzman said. 'If I can ever find a way to test ghost DNA that is... do ghosts have DNA?' She looked around the room.  
'Anyway.' Patty moved them on. 'Let's go and tell that lady her restaurant is safe.'  
'Can I tell her?' Holtzman asked.  
'No you cannot.' Patty said firmly, leading Jillian out of the room and leaving Abby and Erin to talk to the owner.

-x-

Walking back into the fire house they were pleasantly surprised to find Kevin actually at his desk. Jillian and Patty waved and then went straight up to the lab with their new ghost friend. 'Hi Kevin.' Abby said. 'Where have you been all day?'  
'I've been here.' He said, playing with a small rubber ball, bouncing it from one hand to another.  
'No you haven't.' Abby said. 'Patty had to take a call this morning.'  
'No, that was me.' He said.  
'I don't think it was.' Erin said, putting her jacket on the rack.  
'You know, never mind.' Abby said smiling. 'Let's just go.'  
'Oh Abby, I forgot.' Kevin said. 'Can you give this to Holtz. She got a message whilst you guys were out.'  
'Sure.' Abby said, taking a small piece of paper from Kevin.  
'Awesome.' He grinned before going back to his rubber ball. Abby looked at the paper strangely.  
'Everything okay?' Erin asked. Abby looked up at her.  
'I'm not sure.' She said.  
'Who's the message from?' Erin wondered.  
'Come with me.' Abby said, marching up the stairs with Erin trailing behind her.

-x-

'Holtzman.' Abby said before she reached the top of the stairs. Patty and Jillian were hooking up the container to the electromagnetic readers when Abby and Erin came into view.  
'What's shaking?' Jillian said, not really paying attention to anything other than the new play thing in front of her.  
'Stop what you're doing and look at this.' Abby said, her voice sounding more and more concerned. Patty was aware of this and quickly payed attention.  
'I'm kind of in the middle of something Abs.' Jillian said, typing into her laptop.  
'Jillian, I mean it. You have a message.' Abby said. The use of her first name made her stand to attention.  
'I don't get messages. Ever.' Holtzman said. Abby simply held out the small piece of paper to her friend. Holtzman gingerly walked over and took it, looking down at Kevin's scruffy handwriting. Jillian looked up to Abby with wide eyes. 'Is this serious?' She asked, her Holtzman flair suddenly gone.  
'I think so.' Abby said.  
'Guys, what the hell is happening?' Patty wondered, echoing Erin's confused look. 'What does the note say?'  
'Code forty-four.' Holtzman said.  
'What is 'code forty-four'?' Erin asked.  
'It's a message from someone.' Jillian swallowed. 'Someone I used to know.'  
'Someone we thought was gone for good.' Abby warned.


	2. Chapter 2

_'Houses are not haunted. We are haunted, and regardless of the architecture with which we surround ourselves, our ghosts stay with us until we ourselves are ghosts.' - Dean Koontz_

'This means he's back.' Holtzman said, looking into Abby's eyes, studying the worry on her face. 'This...' she waved the paper around. 'Means he knows where I am.'  
'Who are we talking about here?' Erin asked, breaking the eye lock Abby and Holtzman were sharing.  
'I think we need to tell them.' Abby suggested.  
'Oh, you think!' Patty exclaimed. 'I'll make the coffee, give you a minute to get your heads straight.' She said, walking down to the kitchen. 'Erin!' She called after. 'I could use a hand.' Erin looked to Abby who nodded.  
'We'll be down in a second.' She assured her, Erin walking after Patty. Abby turned back to Holtzman. 'Okay?' Abby put her hands on her friends shoulders. 'This is okay.'  
'It's not okay Abby, it's the farthest thing from okay, Erin releasing all of our captured ghosts would be more okay than this!' She panicked.  
'You just need to breathe and calm down, alright.' Abby rubbed her shoulders. 'You're safe here, with us. We just need to tell them...'  
'Everything, yeah, I know.' Holtzman nodded. 'We can do that.'  
'No jokes?' Abby wondered smiling.  
'No... not yet.' Holtzman let out a breath. 'After they know, I'll make jokes.'  
'Good.' Abby squeezed her shoulders. 'Let's get down there.'

-x-

Patty put a tray of four coffee mugs onto the table in front of them before sitting down next to Holtzman. She was fiddling with the hem of her coat and tapping her foot frantically on the floor. Abby put a hand on her knee to stop the motion, giving her an encouraging nod. 'So, did anyone catch the game last night?' She asked, smiling.  
'No we did not, and neither did you.' Erin said. 'Tell us about code forty-four.'  
'Ah, that. That was a, not so proud moment in my life.'  
'Do you want me to start?' Abby offered. Holtzman nodded.  
'Alright.' Abby began. 'Back when we were struggling scientists at the university there was a third member of our team.'  
'You never told me that?' Erin said.  
'He wasn't worth talking about.'  
'Until now.' Patty said, Abby nodding.  
'His name was Nathan Grant. He was a little older, a little more experienced, and we really needed help back then.' Abby said.  
'He was brilliant.' Holtzman said, not looking away from her hands.  
'That's true, but he was also... slightly unhinged.' Abby added.  
'Unhinged?' Patty looked at them. 'Like, Holtzman unhinged or...'  
'Worse. Holtzy is the good kind. This guy was just insane.' Abby said. 'We didn't know it at first, he seemed nice and helpful, but then things started getting weird.'  
'Weird how?' Erin asked.  
'He became... obsessed, with Holtzy.'  
'I have that effect on people.' Holtzman shrugged.  
'No, this guy took it to another level.' Abby said. 'They were working on a project together and it began getting too dangerous. They were playing with materials and things were exploding at every turn.'  
'What else is new?' Patty winked at Holtzman who smiled back.  
'It was too much even for me.' Holtzman admitted. 'I mean, I know I'm crazy, and I blow a lot of stuff up. But the chemicals he was mixing could have potentially caused... well, the end of the world.'  
'Damn.' Patty exclaimed. 'Seriously?'  
'He was everything I could have been, if Abby hadn't found me.' Jillian admitted.  
'So when Holtzy told him that they should stop, he got really mad.' Abby continued. 'He completely trashed our lab and destroyed our other research.'  
'He threw a FLIR Thermal Imaging camera at me.' Holtzman said. 'Hit me square in the head and it broke in half.'  
'Jesus.' Erin said. 'We're you okay?'  
'A few stitches.' Holtzman shrugged. 'But the poor camera was no more. Those things are expensive too.'  
'After that, we called the police, I fired him and he went to prison for a little while.' Abby said. 'When he got out he came back.'  
'He wanted me to help him finish what he started.' Holtzman said, picking up her coffee. 'And I refused. That was what finally pushed him over the edge.'  
'He was basically Holtzmans stalker for the next year until we could convince the police to give her a restraining order.'  
'Why wouldn't they do it sooner?' Patty wondered.  
'He wasn't doing anything that bad.' Holtzman said.  
'Apart from scaring the crap out of you.' Abby reminded her.  
'Ah, yes. And I don't scare easy, as you know.'  
'Then what happened?' Erin prompted.  
'Then, we never heard from him again. We thought it was over.' Abby admitted.  
'And now he's back.' Holtzman sipped her coffee.  
'You realise you still haven't explained code forty-four?' Patty reminded them.  
'Code forty-four was the name of the project we were working on.' Holtzman said.  
'The project you refused to continue with.' Erin said.  
'That's the one. It would have created a portal into other dimensions. If we could have harnessed enough energy, and focused it through one tiny point we, theoretically, could have ripped a hole through the dimensions. This would have been independent of lay-line power and it would have opened a gate to more worlds than we thought possible.'  
'There was one problem with this plan though.' Abby said. 'Holtz, explain.'  
'Yes, so the amount of power we would need to generate would have been too much. It would have opened the portal but it would have effectively pulled the world in on itself, resulting in...'  
'Catastrophe.' Abby finished. 'The world would have been destroyed.'  
'That's some intense shit man.' Patty said. 'I'm glad you opted out of that one Holtzy.'  
'As am I.' She agreed. 'Now though, it would seem, Nathan is back.'  
'And we need to be on guard.' Abby ordered. 'He obviously knows where Holtzman works and we can probably assume he knows about all of us.'  
'I think we should all stay here together for a while, and Kevin too.' Erin suggested.  
'That's a good idea.' Abby agreed.  
'There's not much else we can do about it right? We don't know where he is or what he's doing.' Patty wondered. 'Do you think he's asking for your help again Holtz?'  
'No, we crossed that crumbling, rickety bridge back then. He knows I wont help.'  
'So what is the message for?' Erin asked.  
'It's a warning.' Holtzman told them. 'He's telling me he's going to try again, without me.' She stood up and started pacing. 'We need to stop him.'  
'How? As Patty said, we don't even know where he is.' Abby reminded her.  
'I know how we can contact him.' Holtzman said.  
'How?' Erin put her coffee down on the tray and sat forwards in her seat.  
'He has a strong online presence. On the dark net.' She told them and Abby immediately shut her down.  
'No, you are not doing that.' She said strongly.  
'Doing what?' Patty asked, confused.  
'Before I found Holtzy she was a player on the dark net. She was the queen of physics and any bad guy with a physics related problem would come to her.'  
'Bad guys have physics related problems?' Patty said.  
'They're more common than you think.' Holtzman told them. 'So I was kind of a bad guy.'  
'A bad guy, please.' Abby snorted. 'You were a puppy dog compared to most of the people in that world.'  
'True, which is why I was ever so glad of your timely rescue.' Holtzman smiled. 'But the point is, I know Nathan has a handle on the dark net and I can use my old screen name to contact him.'  
'You know that only works if he is still on the dark net.' Erin said.  
'Yes I am aware.' Holtzman continued pacing.  
'No!' Abby stood up. The others turned to her with shocked faces. 'You are not putting yourself back there Holtzy, I won't allow it.'  
'But...' She started, only for Abby to hold up her hands.  
'For now we just have to lay low. We watch each other's backs, and Kevin's, and we try and see this thing out.'  
'He might not let Holtzy pass on this one Abby.' Patty warned.  
'Then we deal with it when we have to.' She sighed. 'We are not going to seek him out. I mean that Jillian.'  
'Okay, fine.' She conceded. 'But if he really is trying to destroy the world, we have to do something.'  
'I know. Just not now.' Abby walked over to Holtzy and hugged her. 'I can't loose you.' Holtzman wrapper her arms around her friend and held on.  
'You wont.' She whispered, before feeling the arms of the rest of the ghostbusters. They stood like that for a long time before Abby finally broke them up.  
'As much fun as this group hug is...' She began. 'We still have work to do.'  
'Just give us a moment.' Patty said, eyes closed in embrace. Holtzman and Abby exchanged a look.  
'Is this a bad time to tell you I left my Bunsen burner alight?' Holtzman said, all of them immediately pulling away.  
'Why do you have a Bunsen burner?' Erin asked.  
'They fascinate me.' Holtzman said before bounding up the stairs back to her lab. The rest of the Ghostbusters looked at each other.  
'Should we be worried?' Erin asked.  
'Definitely.' Abby confirmed.  
'Don't worry Abs, we got your backs.' Patty put a hand on her shoulder. 'Nothing is gonna stop us from protecting each other.' Abby smiled as they heard a crash from upstairs. Then a shout;  
'So it turns out the Bunsen burner wasn't the problem.' They heard Holtzman yell.  
'That child, I swear.' Patty laughed, traipsing up the stairs to help.


	3. Chapter 3

_'If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it.' - Albert Einstein_

Erin walked into the lab and saw Holtzman crouched over her computer. She was typing frantically, unaware of her surroundings. 'I thought Abby told you no dark net.' Erin said, causing Holtzman to jump.  
'I'm not on the dark net.' She said, hand on heart. 'And you just robbed me of one of my lives.'  
'How many do you have?' Erin wondered, pulling up a stool next to her friend.  
'I guess we'll see when all of this is over.'  
'That's not funny Holtz.' Erin said seriously.  
'I know. But that's what I'm good at.'  
'You're good at science.' Erin added. 'So what are you up to?' She asked.  
'I'm trying to get some data on the ghost we captured.'  
'And?' Erin asked.  
'And so far it's exactly the same as the rest of them.' Holtzman sighed and lent back in her chair. 'I need to figure out a better way to do this.' She complained. 'I need new tests and new equipment. I need to build something better.'  
'Holtz, this is not all on you.' Erin reminded her. 'We are a team, and as your teammate, I need to tell you that I think you're freaking out a little bit over this.'  
'I am.' Holtz looked at her desperately. 'I don't know how to process this. I don't understand the science behind Nathan, about why he is doing this.'  
'Because he's a bad person.' Erin confirmed. 'Nothing you can do about that, he just is.'  
'But why?' Holtz pleaded. 'I know why I didn't go completely to the dark side, because of Abby. Doesn't he have an Abby to stop him?'

'Not everyone does.' Erin said. 'But you need to stop thinking about him, for now at least.' Erin patted her knee as she nodded. 'It's late. Abby and Patty went upstairs already so do you want to head up?'

'Where's Kevin?' Holtz asked.  
'He went back to his place. We couldn't convince him to stay.' Erin informed her.  
'Well, I'm pretty sure he'll be fine.' Holtzman said. 'He's three times the size of Nathan and could squash him like a bug.'  
'Again, not really that funny.' Erin said, trying to suppress a smile. 'Come on, lets head up.' Erin said, standing and sliding the stool under the desk.  
'No, you go. I'm going to stay here for a bit longer.'  
'You sure?' Erin said, leaning against the door frame.

'Yes, I need to fix the laser scope anyway and it'll keep my mind occupied.'  
'When did the laser scope break?' Erin said, and then thought; 'When did we get a laser scope?'

'I tried to attach it to the EDI Meter so that it could pinpoint ghost locations but the energy I had to reroute made it slightly unstable.'  
'You blew it up.' Erin clarified.  
'Yes I blew it up.' Holtzman confirmed. 'But I'll sleep when it's fixed. I promise.'

'Alright, hollar if you need anything.' Erin said before turning and walking from the room.

-x-

Patty woke up the next morning to a series of crashes coming from below her. She sat up and looked at her clock. Six in the morning was not a time she liked to be up. 'Damn it Holtzy.' She said, throwing her blanket to the floor and making her way down to the lab. Sure enough, Jillian was sitting on the floor surrounded by piles of junk. Well, it was junk to any normal person. To Holtzman it was a gold mine. 'Girl, what do you think you're doing at this hour?' She said, rubbing her eyes. 'Some of us need our beauty sleep.'  
'My dear Patty, we both know that does not apply to the glory that is you.' Holtzman grinned.

'Flattery will not stop me being mad, it will help, but it wont make it go away.' Patty sat on the chair in the corner of the room. 'I'll ask again, what are you doing?'

'I'm going through all of my boxes of toys.' She said, rummaging through a pile of disregarded metal.

'That's trash Holtz, what are you going to do with that?'

'I'm not sure.' She bit her lip, picking up a sharp, silver strand. 'But the more I play with it the more ideas come to me.'

'Uh-huh sure.' Patty said just as the others came into the room looking equally as tired.

'What's she doing?' Abby asked Patty.

'Being crazy.' Patty said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

'Did you even go to sleep Holtz?' Erin asked.

'No I did not.' She replied, still focused on the piles of tech in front of her. 'Wasn't tired.'

'Alright, I'm going to make some coffee. Who wants some?' Abby asked.

'Me please.' Erin responded. Patty raised her hand signaling her need for caffeine and Holtzman just held up a can of energy drink.

'I'm good thank you Abby.' She said.

'Fantastic.' Abby said. 'Because she needs to be more hyperactive.' She left the room and went to the kitchen.

'Come on Holtz, lets go down and get some breakfast.' Erin said as Patty pulled herself up from the chair.

'In a second.' Jillian said. She floated her hand across several pieces of metal lying in front of her. She stopped over one, picked it up, inspected it, and put it on the table next to her welding iron. 'Okay, good to go.' She jumped up and walked over to them.

'Stop being so perky.' Patty said grumpily, leading the way from the room.

-x-

After they had downed a cup of coffee and were on their second, the phone began to ring. It was too early for Kevin to be in so Erin answered it. 'Ghostbusters.' She said. They all watched her contently, hoping for a good case to keep them busy for the morning. 'Alright, uh-huh.' She reached over and grabbed a pen and paper from the desk, jotting down an address. 'We're on our way. Thank you.'

'Ghost?' Abby asked, still drinking coffee.  
'Yeah, there's a class four ghost at a private residence on 172nd street in Queens.'  
'How do they know it's class four?' Patty asked.

'They don't, but the guy on the phone said it looked like his late wife, and she was able to make things move around the house.' Erin continued. 'So I assumed.'

'Alright then, lets go.' Holtzman stood up. 'I'll get the car.' She left the room, leaving the others to make their way out to the street.

'She's awfully perky for someone running on no sleep.' Patty said.

'She does that sometimes.' Abby told them. 'She used to stay awake for as long as she could and then crash for days at a time.'

'That can't be good for her.' Erin said.

'No, probably not.' Abby opened the door to the firehouse. 'But it helps her process things, and I will intervene if she goes too far.'

'Damn straight.' Patty said, following them out into the morning chill. 'I'll tie her to the bed and make her sleep.'

'That won't be necessary Patty but I appreciate the support.' Abby patted her shoulder just as Holtzman sped from the garage with the Ecto-1.

'Hop in ladies.' She said, leaning out of the window. Abby walked towards the car and looked at it suspiciously.

'Holtzy?' She said, getting into the front seat. 'Did you wash the Ecto-1 last night?'

'I did yes.' She said, putting the car in gear and pulling away once they were all in. 'I also re-checked the proton packs, cleaned the cameras, tested the EVP meters and the voice recorders.' She then added; 'Don't be surprised if theres a rendition of wind beneath my wings on one of the recorders, performed by yours truly.' She smiled.

'Fantastic... so we have that to look forward too.' Abby said, turning to the others with a worried expression. Patty was trying to stifle a laugh.

'Man, I actually really want to hear that.' She patted Holtzy on the shoulder. Erin was looking through the equipment Holtzman had seen to that night. Everything was in top working order and looked brand new.

'Good job Holtz. I admire the dedication.' She commended.

'Using my hands takes my mind away from itself.' She admitted. 'It focuses on something practical and forgets, well, everything else.' She kept her eyes straight ahead, turning the corner and headed towards Queens.


	4. Chapter 4

_'There is certainly a world beyond our normal consciousness from which neither space nor time divides us, but only the barrier of our sense-perceptions... this threshold is not immovable.' ~William F. Barrett_

They pulled up in front of an old, victorian house. The stone stair way was crumbling and the shutters were falling from the windows. 'Okay is it just me, or does this place look like no one has lived here for years?' Patty asked as they were pulling on their proton packs.

'It does look pretty deserted.' Abby agreed. 'Erin, is this the right place?' She wondered.

'This is the address the guy gave me so...'

'We should probably knock.' Holtzman suggested, jumping up the first step.

'Holtzy, hang on.' Patty said coming after her.

'What, I'm just going to knock.' Holtzman said, reaching the door and knocking three times as the rest of the group joined her.

'This place is kind of creepy.' Abby said, looking around at the chipping paint and the cobwebs covering every corner. Nothing happened after a few moments of standing in silence so Holtzman knocked on the door again, slightly harder. After the second knock, the door opened gently by itself, swinging on it's hinges into the dark entrance room. They looked at each other before looking back at the door.

'That's strange.' Holtzman said. 'Maybe the ghost wants us to come in?'

'I don't like this at all!' Patty said, turning to Abby and Erin. 'I think we should leave, this don't feel right.'

'We can't leave Patty.' Abby said. 'There's someone here who needs our help.'

'Oh really? Where are they then?' She asked. 'I don't see nobody.'

'Why don't we have a quick look around and if no one is here we can leave.' Erin suggested.

'Why do we even have to look?' Patty protested.

'Because...' Abby sighed. 'Holtzman is already inside.'

'Damn it!' Patty said. 'Fine, let's get this over with.' She stormed into the house behind Holtzman.

-x-

The inside of the house was just as bad as the outside. It looked like no one had been living there for years. Old furniture was covered in dust and the curtains were pulled firmly closed. 'Man this place is dusty.' Patty said, looking around. Abby and Erin were right behind her, thinking the same thing. Something odd was going on here. 'Holtzman!' Patty yelled, 'where are you?' She called back after only a second;

'I'm in what I can only assume should be the dining room.'

'Come on.' Abby said, walking towards the sound of Jillian's voice. The dining room was in even more disarray than the other rooms. There were stacks of papers on the table and in every corner an old machine.

'This looks like your place Holtz.' Erin joked.

'What is all of this crap?' Patty asked, blowing dust off of a stack of books. 'It's junk.'

'You think everything is junk my love but this,' Holtzman switched on one of the machines, 'is far from junk.'

'It still works?' Abby walked over to Holtzman and studied the machine. 'Is this what I think it is?' She said, looking at Holtzman. Her eyes were on the machine and the machine only. 'Holtzy?' Abby touched her shoulder and their eyes connected. 'Is this?'

'Yes, Abby, it is an early, a very early, version of the machine we were trying to build.'

'That means...' Erin stepped forwards. 'This is Nathan's place.'

'He must have called us.' Patty said. 'Lured us here.'

'But why?' Erin asked just as a disembodied voice floated around the room.

'Because I missed you, that's why.' the voice said. They all jumped and looked around the room. Jillian and Abby recognised the voice immediately.

"Nathan.' Abby called. 'Where are you?'

'I'm around.' He said vaguely. 'I really missed my dear friend Jillian.'

'Can't say the feelings mutual.' Holtzman said, holding onto her gun a little tighter.

'Come on now, you just found my machine and there's lots of research to look through. I'd love a second opinion.'

'Not going to happen.' Abby said, stepping subconsciously in front of Holtzman.

'I wasn't speaking to you Abigail. I know Jillian enjoyed our time together.'

'You were trying to cause the end of the world.' Holtzman reminded him. 'That's not a good thing Nathan.'

'It wouldn't have been the end of the world, you were always so dramatic.'

'Being cautious isn't dramatic. You would have caused a lot of damage.' Abby said.

'But if Holtzy would have helped me, I know we would have made it work correctly.' He said, sounding angrier by the minute.

'Don't call me that Nathan. And even if I thought I could do it, I wouldn't help you. You're insane.'

'Coming from you.' He said.

'Look man.' Patty stepped in. 'You need to either show your crazy ass or we're out, okay?' She shouted. There was no response so Patty turned to the rest of the group. 'Come on, let's get out of here.' They agreed, heading for the door which Erin had left open, only for it to slam closed in their faces.

'Oh dear.' Abby said, turning back into the room.

'Nathan, how did you do that?' Holtzman said, stepping back into the middle of the room.

'Did I forget to mention what I'm currently working on?' He said with joy in his voice. 'Harnessing the ghostly ability to move things with my mind, or with the help of an invention.'

'Telekinesis isn't a ghostly ability dumb-ass!' Abby yelled. 'Now open this door!'

'Only, if Jillian agrees to help me.' He bargained.

'No way.' Abby answered for her. 'We can just as easily blow the door open Nathan, you're just wasting our time.'

'Wasting your time...' Nathan chuckled. 'How about a real ghost to fight then?' He said as an eerie laugh filled the room. A dim blue light began to glow from the top of the stairs.

'Nathan, what did you do?' Holtzman asked, worry in her voice.

'I figured out how to make my own ghosts.' He said.

'Nathan...' Holtzman said. 'We talked about that, I remember, we decided it wouldn't work.'

'Well, I had a whole year in prison to work on the design of the machine. I figured out the one thing we were missing.' As they were talking the figure of a woman came gliding into view. She looked old, dressed for another time, as she studied them.

'How are you controlling her?' Erin asked.

'That's for me to know and you to never find out.' He mocked before instructing the ghost. 'Attack.' She did as she was told, sending a burst of energy towards the ghostbusters. It hit them full force and sent them flying back into the wall.

'Oh that hurt.' Abby said, sitting up. 'Power up ladies.' She said, pulling her proton blaster out of her pack and getting to her feet.

'This bitch is going down.' Patty said, joining her. Erin and Holtzman were close to follow. They all aimed for the ghost, sending out beams of energy in the direction of the entity. Their beams were met with another blast of ghostly energy, colliding in the middle. There was a great flash of light as the powers merged.

'Guys, we need to leave, right now.' Holtzman said, panicked.

'Why, we need to finish off the ghost.' Patty said.

'No, that's not a real ghost, it's one of Nathan's experiments. We won't be able to destroy it with the tech we have.' She confirmed. 'We can keep firing at it but I assure you nothing will happen.'

'I'm inclined to believe Holtzman on this one.' Erin said, agreeing as they step back towards the door.

'Okay, you guys keep her busy and I'll kick this door in.' Patty said.

'You got it Patty.' Abby said, firing at the man made ghost.

'It's no use Abby.' Nathan said from, wherever the hell he was. 'She is made from something you cannot even imagine, my mind.' He sounded vert proud of himself.

'Oh so she's crazy too.' Holtzman said, helping Abby by firing straight after her shot ran out of juice.

'How's that door coming Patty?' Erin asked, moving around for a better angle.

'Almost there.' She said, and with one final kick the door flew open and the sunlight poured in. 'Got it! Come on guys.' She stepped out onto the porch and encouraged the others to follow.

'You know this isn't over Jillian.' Nathan said as they exited the building. The ghost faded into nothing as they left, never looking back.


End file.
